Rail and tie plate assembly



Jan. 5, 1932. v. c. ARMSTRONG RAIL AND HE PLATE ASSEMBLY Filed May 8, .1931

I v 3W" oi Victor Cfiuqrnwtror g,

Patented Jan. 5, 1932 I UNITED- STATES PJATENT OFFICE VICTOR O. ARMSTRONG, 015 SHORT HILLS, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOB TO THE RAIL JOINT COMPANY, OIENEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK RAIL AND TIE PLATE ASSEMBLY Application filed May 8, 1931. Serial No. 536,021.

This invention relates to a rail and tie plate assembly and has for its primary object to provide a novel means for maintaining and holding a tie plate firmly in tie engagement with the tie while permitting free movement of the rail relative to the tie plate, thereby to reduce the tie cutting action of the tie plate to a minimum.

It has been established that railway rails partake of a pronounced undulating or wave motion in a vertical direction when the rolling load passes over the same, and it has furthermore been ascertained that iii-order to obtain maximum life from rails, rail joints,

1 tie plates and trackage in general, as well as a high factor of safety, it is desirable to permit the rail wave motion to pass uninterruptedly through the rails; therefore, according to the present invention, free rail wave motion is permitted on and over the tie plate without communicating the same to the tie plate or its fastenings.

Ordinarily, the general practice in tie plate fastening is to have the heads of at least some of the spikes (driven or screw spikes) firmly clamped against the rail flanges, with the result that the tie plate and rail are rigidly held together and the rail movement is communicated to the tie plate with consequent working of the latter over and up and down upon the wooden cross tie causing rapid wear and cutting of the tie and greatly reducin its life. Accordingly, t e general object of the present invention is to provide a thoroughly practical, simple and mexpensive tie plate fastening means which is effective to hold the tie plate firmly upon the tie, against working thereover, and which permits the wave motion of the rail to pass substantially uninterruptedly through the rail and over the tie plate.

Another object of the invention is to provide, in connection with the fastening of a tie plate in the manner stated, novel guard means to limit extreme upward movements of the rail relative to the tie plate, thus to retain the rail in operative relation to the tie plate while permitting, however, ,the rail wave motion to pass uninterruptedly through the rail.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will become more fully apparent as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the novel features of construction, combination and arrangements as will be hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and defined in the appended claims.

In the drawings, wherein like characters of reference denote corresponding parts in the different views z- Figure l is asectional view illustrating one practical embodiment of the invention.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary sectional view similar to. Fig. 1 illustrating an alternative embodiment of the invention.

Figure 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 illustrating another alternative embodiment of the invention; and

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figs. 1 and 2 illustrating a further alternative embodiment of the invention.

In each of the figures of the drawings a portion of a wooden cross tie is designated as A, the tie plate as B, and the rail as C.

As usual, and as illustrated in the drawings the tie plate 13 rests on top of the cross tie A, taking a relatively extensive bearing thereon, and the rail C rests on top of the tie plate, while in accordance with known practice, the tie plate has formed across the top thereof either a single rib or a pair of ribs 10 providing a shoulder or shoulders to be engaged by one or both edges of the rail flange, as the case may be, to limit lateral movement of the rail in one or both directions relative to the tie plate.

Heretofore, the general practice has been to form at least some of the spike slots through the tie plate at points such that the s ike heads are engageable with the rail ange to draw the rail firmly downward against the tie plate and the latter tightly against the tie. Consequently, rail anchorages as thus produced have been quite stiff the tie plate, clips of a preferably inherently resilient nature are employed in the present instance to retain the tie plate in tight, nonvibrating, relation to the tie, in such manner that the rail may freely partake of its natural wave motion substantially uninterruptedly at the points where it seats against the tie plate, and without loosening the tie plates or its fastenings.

As illustrated in Fig. 1, the tie plate preferably has two ribs 10, 10 formed thereacross to be engaged by the respective edges of the rail flange to hold the rail against lateral movement in both directions relative to the tie plate, and as illustrated in each of Figs. 1, 2 and 4, the fastener receiving openings 11 formed through the tie plate are located well outwardly with respect to said ribs 10, under which conditions the combined tie plate fastening and rail guard clips may be of the form illustrated in either of said figures.

As illustrated in Fig. 1 the tie plate fastening and rail guard clips are formed from short lengths of preferably flat resilient metal such as steel, of suitable thickness and width, each bent upon itself at one end to provide a U-shaped formation comprising an upper arm 12 and a lower arm 13 spaced from the upper arm, and in accordance with the invention these superimposed arms have formed therethrough alined fastener receiving openings 14. I

The clip fasteners 15 may be either ordinary spikes adapted to be driven into the tie, or they may be and preferably are in the form of bolts, lag screws or the like adapted to be screwed into the tie. In either event, to secure a clip properly in place the clip is disposed upon the tie plate with its lower arm 13 resting thereagainst and with its openings 14 alined with an opening 11 in the tie plate, and a fastener 15 is passed downwardly through the alined openings 14 and 11 and is driven or screwed into the tie to such an extent that the head 16 of the fastener engages with the upper arm 12 of the clip and forces said arm downwardly relative to the arm 13, thus placing the U-shaped formation of the clip under a spring tension. The result is that due to the constant tendency of the arms 12 and 13 to spring apart, the tie plate is held at all times firmly against the tie, whereby working of said plate across and up and down relative to the tie with consequent cutting of the latter is effectively avoided.

In positioning the clip on the tie plate, the end of the clip constituted by the U-shaped formation thereof is disposed outwardly and the free ends of the arms 12 and 13 are disposed inwardly, that is, towards the rail, and in this connection it will be observed that the upper arm 12 is of relatively short length, while the lower arm 13 is somewhat longer and is bent as at 13 so as to extend over the rib 10 and overlie the outer portion of the rail flange, thus to serve as a guard to prevent the rail from raising or kicking out of its seat between the ribs 1O, 10.

Preferably, the inner end of the arm 13 of the clip is disposed sufficiently spaced above the upper face of the rail flange so as to offer no interference whatever to the normal wave motion of the rail passing through the rail,

which is particularly desirable if the clip is relatively inherently rigid. On the other hand, if the clip is more or less freely flexible 0r resilient, the arm 13 thereof may normally contact with the rail flange. In either event it is apparent that while the rail is effectively retained in operative relation to the tie plate, and the latter is held securely against the tie, nevertheless the wave motion of the rail is permitted to pass substantially uninterruptedly through the rail within the zone of the tie plate without transmitting its motion to said plate.

Referring now to the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Fig. 2, it will be ob served that the clip is in the form of a coil spring 17 having one end extended laterally as at 18. According to this embodiment of they invention the fastener 15 is extended through the coiled portion of the clip to place the same under tension in the same manner and for the same purpose as described in connection with the U-shaped formation of the clip illustrated in Fig. 1, and the laterallyextended arm 18 of said coiled portion is adapted to overlie the rail flange in the same manner'and for the same purpose as the arm 12 of the first described clip.

Referring particularly to Fig. 3 of the drawings, it will be observed that the fastener receivin hole 11 in the tie plate is located dlrectly ad acent to the edge of the rail flange in accordance with prior common practice, and that the clip is quite similar to the clip illustrated in Fig. 1 in that it is bent upon itself to provide a U-shaped formation comprising upper and lower arms 19 and 20, respectively, the latter of which is bent as at the rail flange. However, the clip in this instance is of relatively short over-all length.

In instances where the tie plate is provided with only a single transverse rib 10 to be engaged by one edge of the rail flange, an arrangement as illustrated in Fig. 4 may be used. That is to say, a block 21 may be provided for engagement with the edge of the rail flange opposite the edge that is engaged by the rib 10, and the fastener 15 may extend through this block to position and hold the same in operative relation to the rail. When such a block is used, the same is interposed between the clip and the upper face of the tie plate, and obviously it is immaterial which type of clip is used in association with said block. 1

Regarding the different clips illustrated, it will be observed that in each instance the rail guard arm thereof extends from the lower portion of the clip whereby compression of the clip by tightening of the fastener therefor is ineffective to force the guard arm into engagement with the rail flange. This is a preferred but not an essential arrangement, as obviously the rail guard arm may extend from the upper part of the clip. However, the preferred arrangement has the further advantage that engagement between the bent portion of the rail guard arm and the rib 10 holds the clip against rotation relative to the fastener 15.

Without further description it is thought that the features and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and it will of course be understood that changes in the form, proportion and minor details of construction may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit of the invention and scope of the appended claims.

I claim 1. A rail and tie plate assembly comprising, in combination, a cross tie, a tie plate disposed thereon a rail seated on the tie plate, a headed fastener extending through the tie plate into the tie, and a chp having a resilient portion interposed between the headof the fastener and the tie plate reacting from the fastener against the tie plate to maintain the latter seated against the tie, said clip having a guard arm overlying the rail flange in spaced relation thereto.

2.-A rail and tie plate assembly comprising, in combination, a cross tie, a tie plate disposed thereon, a rail seated on the tie plate,

Y a clip having a guard arm overlying the rail flange in spaced relation thereto, a portion of the clip being bent upon itself to provide a spring formation, and a h aded fastener extending through said spring formation and through the tie plateinto the tie, said spring formation being disposed between the head of the fastener and the tie plate and reacting from the former against the latter to hold the tie plate firmly against the tie.

3. A rail and tie plate assembly comprising, in combination, a cross tie, a tie plate disposed thereon, a rail seated on the tie plate, a u-shaped clip having superimiosed arms one of which overlies the rail ange in spaced relation thereto, and a fastener extending through the arms of said clip and through the tie plate into the tie, one of said arms cooperating with the tie plate and the other with the fastener whereby the clip reacts from the fastener against the tie plate to hold the latter against the tie.

4. A rail and tie plate assembly comprising, in combination, a cross tie, a tie plate disposed thereon, a rail seated on the tie plate, a clip in the form of a coil spring having one end thereof extended laterally to provide a guard arm overlying the rail flange, and a fastener extending through said coil spring and through the tie plate into the tie.

5. A rail and tie plate assembly comprising, in combination, a cross tie, a tie plate disposed thereon, a rail seated on the tie plate, a clip in the form of a coil spring having the lower'end thereof extended laterally hold the clip against rotation, and a fastener V extending through the clip and the tie plate into the tie, the arm of said clip being extended to overlie the rail flange.

'7. A rail and tie plate assembly as set forth in claim 1 in which a block for cooperation with the edge of the rail flange to hold the rail against lateral movement is held by the fastener between the tie plate and the resilient portion of the clip.

, In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature.

' VICTOR C. ARMSTRONG. 

